Who are the Tigre/Tigreans?
7/21/2025
Recently,
this week, I have been arguing with some illustrated and extremist Tigrayans
and also with the known Asrat Abraham አስራት አብርሃ (ከአገር በስተጀርባ መፅሐፍ ደራሲ) who was fooling Ethiopian politicians for many years pretending
as an patriot Ethiopian represent ARENA group from Tigray. I have been exposing
this fellow for many years warning Ethiopian medias and politicians not to
romanticize such connive, unfortunately, he recently came out with his true
face written a nihilist ethnocentric-nationalist book.
Just to
remind you, Abraham Asrat’s mind talking about Tigre, Amhara and Ethiopia
sounds the like the following exerted ideas from his different writings:-
<< እስከ ራያ ያለው መሬት የኦሮሚያ ሲሆን፣ አገው ምድር ከልል ሆኖ ሲቆም፣ ጎንደር የቅማንት ዋና ከተማ ስትሆን ምናልባት ወልቃይት መውሰድ ትችሉ ይሆናል። እሱም ዝም ብሎ የሚሰጥ ከተገኘ ነው።.............ትግራይ
ውስጥ ከተማ አደግ ከሆኑ “ትግሬዎች አይደሉም”........... የትግራይ ሕዝብ ትግርኛ ቋንቋ ከመናገሩ በቀር
በእምነት፤ባስተሳሰብ ባሉት 700 ዓመታት “አምሐርሒሩ” (የትግርኛ ቃሉ ዐምሓራናይ-ዝድ እንደማለት ነው) “አማሐራዊ” ሆኗል።
ይህ እውነታ ደግሞ “ደብተራ ፍስሐ ጊዮርጊስ ሳይቀር ከ100 አመት በፊት ተረድተውት ነበር።..........በሸዋ ክህደትና ሴራ
ንጉሳችን መተማ ላይ ከወደቀ በኋላ ለ120 ዓመታት ያህል የTom and Jerry ዓይነት ኑሮ በዚች አገር ኖረናል።በእኔ እድሜ
ይሄ ነገር አብቅቶ ለማየት እመኛለሁ።........>> አብርሃም አስራት
His new book also propogated
Tigrayan as the sole owner and establisher of Axum civilization.
This
short view of mine is excerpted from my upcoming paper dealing extensively who
the Tigreans are and why some cabals inside Tigray are demanding secession from
the mother land Ethiopia (as all Ethiopians are the establishers, creators,
builders and owners of Axum civilization). Therefore, these cabals in Tigray
and some in the diaspora. wrongly and fascistically believe Aksumite
civilization belongs only to Tigrayans. I believe some of these elements are
suffering with some unidentified inferiority complex yet to be diagnosed and
search well.
For example, the deceased TPLF leader, the son of the grandson of Dejazmach Asres of Gojam Meles Zenawi once
said:-
“…the
Tigreans had Aksum, but what could that mean to the Gurages? The Agew had
Lalibela, but what could that mean to the Oromos? The Gonderes had castles, but
what could that mean to the Wolayita? What Meles was telling the world was that
the legacies of ancient Aksumite belong exclusively to Tigreans, Lalibela to
the Agew, etc. Not so, says my friend and my teacher the renowned historian
Professor Aleme Eshete (rest his soul in peace).
In fact, according to books and research history I read written by elegant classic
historians believe, that the early builders of the Axumite Empire were the Ge’ez
people not Tigreans. “Emperor Ezana” himself never claimed he
was a Tigrayan ethnic. In fact, he acknowledged himself as Halen (ሐሌን)
ethnic when he was fighting with the Afar (Afan) leaders (His own writing አዘነ ፡ ወልደ፡ አሌ፡ አሜደ
ብእስየ ፡ ሐሌን፡) Even the Kunama claimed the earlier
Emperor “Emperor Bazen” as Kunama Origin. So, where are the Tigrayns
here?
Tigreans
arrived later at Aksum through invasion and imposed the name of the invaded
land as “Tigre”. Since after, the language Ge’ez speaking people removed and
replaced by the current language called Tigrigna as the language of the
Tigre/Tigray/Tegaru/Tigringa… (the Tigrigna speaking tribe in Eritrean), Tigrigna
name recently given by “EPLF” in Eritrea to remove their association with the
other Agew Geez people- replaced by the /Tigre/ Tigray Tigrigna speaking people
the south Mereb.
Generally speaking. basic argument is that it is impossible to attribute to any
one ethnic group Ethiopia’s (Axumite’s) past achievements. Due to immigration, war,
and other causes for the movement of people, all Ethiopians have had part in
building Ethiopia’s (Axumite’s) past civilizations, and “every Ethiopian should
be justifiably proud of the collective heritage.” Said, my teacher and my
friend the grandeur historian Aleme Eshete.
It is
written in many research and books that Axum never was solely owned by
Tigrayans. Bear in mind, the Ge’ez disappeared by the 8th century AD
with the end of the Aksumite Empire. And their place, the heart land of Aksum
was taken by people called Tigrai/Tigre. Who are the Tigrai? The origin of the
Tigrai/Tigre is Beja as the Kunam are Seshe, as the Oromo were the Gala. Tigre/later-on
known as Tigray/Tigean/Tigre are semitized Beja living north of the Ge’ez
(Current Eritrea territories).
The
Tigray were the Tigre who would in the 7th Century marched over the highlands
conquered and occupied the Ge’ez Aksum, putting an end
to the Ge’ez Axum ruling dynasty. Can we able to deny that Beja Tigre who
would in the 7th Century marched over the highlands conquered and occupied the
Ge’ez Aksum putting an end to the Ge’ez Axum
Tigreans
never recognized nor want to recognize their Beja origin like the current Oromo
society who do not want to recognize their ancestors’ name “or the Origin of
Gala”. Who is the Gala and who are the Beja? Both have similar trends as
warriors and invaders destroyed and recreated a new community of language and
features in Ethiopia. When changed their origin, the TPLF cabals or the new
separatist elements in Tigray called themselves Agazian in order to establish
new republic of Tigray (these cabal Tigrayans claimed as Agazian does not
include the few true Ethiopians like the young Dr Aregawi Mberahtu who never
deny their Ethiopian citizenship and still work for the unity and strength of
Ethiopia)
I myself
as a Tigrayan, I wonder what went wrong in the mind of separatists in Tigray
calling themselves as Agazian not Ethiopian or Tigrean.
In fact,
the Tigreans lost their memory of origin (even their Agaw Geez/Beja links), and
instead traced their ancestry to the Sabeans South Arabia. That is why the TPLF
cabals wrote on their manifesto of 1983 the following.
Agazian (TPLF manifesto of May
1983)
“The people of Tigray have a rich history of thousands
of years. In
the past, they
were Known by various names such as Axumites,
Habeshas, etc.
Before 1000 BC, present day Tigray was
Inhabited by
Nilotic and Hametic peoples of African origin, who
led a primitive
communal life…..the tribes of South Arabian
Origin known as
the Sabean, Agazeans, Habeshats, and
Himyarites
began to cross the Red Sea and settle in the areas
which are today
Tigray and Eritrea. These tribes were at a more
advanced stage
of development than the indigenous
people.
(People’s
Democratic program of TPLF, May
1983) “
So now,
we know from the horse’s mouth that Agazians are people who crossed the Red Sea
and settled in the areas which are today Tigray and Eritrea.
My paper
will continue when completed for post.
Thanks
Getachew
Reda (Ethio Semay)
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